Phased array antenna panels with large numbers of antennas and front end chips integrated on a single board are being developed in view of higher wireless communication frequencies being used between a satellite transmitter and a wireless receiver, and also more recently in view of higher frequencies used in the evolving 5G wireless communications (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems). Phased array antenna panels are capable of beamforming by phase shifting and amplitude control techniques, and without physically changing direction or orientation of the phased array antenna panels, and without a need for mechanical parts to effect such changes in direction or orientation.
Phased array antenna panels often require antennas to be capable of transmitting or receiving signals while there are other antennas in the phased array in close proximity, resulting in poor signal isolation between signals received from or transmitted by the various antennas in the phased array. Increasing the separation between antennas or employing specialized isolation techniques can improve signal isolation. However, due to increased cost, size and complexity of the phased array, these approaches can be impractical. In addition, because of the high-loss nature of wireless communication signals, energy loss occurs between antennas and front end chips processing the signals to be received from or transmitted by the antennas. Thus, there is a need in the art for large scale integration of phased array antenna panels with increased signal isolation and reduced signal loss.